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| Chakhesang tribals during a cultural programme. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Preserving oral history of the Tenyimis
The Tenyimi Peoples’ Organisation (TPO) of Nagaland — an umbrella organisation of 10 Naga tribes — is all set to begin a massive hunt to rescue from obscurity the oral history of the “Tenyimis”.
The 10 tribes consider themselves “blood brothers”, a term which implies that they evolved from the same ancestors.
The Tenyimis comprise the Angami, Chakhesang, Rengma, Pochury, Mao, Poumai, Zeliangrong, Maram, Thangal and Inpui tribes.
The tribes are spread over Nagaland, Assam and Manipur.
The first hearing on the oral history of the Tenyimis will take place at the Conclave Conference Hall in Kohima, Nagaland on November 14 when the TPO research committee will record the oral history from the elders of the Tenyimi on the day.
The TPO has already sent out word to all the Tenyimi eminent scholars particularly in the field of archaeology, sociology, anthropology, genealogy, history and linguistics to participate in the hearing.
Z.M. Sekhose, the president of the Tenyimi Peoples’ Organisation, said after the hearing, the TPO would arrange field visits to certain known Tenyimi villages/settlements by members of the research committee.
The members of the research committee will document the historical importance of the places.
If the road is bad for use, then close it to draw the attention of the authorities.
This is exactly what the residents of Thangmeiband in Imphal city are planning to do.
And as usual, the women are taking the lead.
Five meira paibi organisations of Thangmeiband have formed a joint action committee to ensure that the authorities this time pay attention to the prevailing condition of Thangmeiband Watham Road.
This road connects Imphal city and the Lamphel area of Imphal West district, which has various important government offices.
But no vehicle could pass through this road for the past several months, as a sewerage project taken up along this route has not been completed.
Nationalist Congress Party MLA Radhabinod Koijam, who is a former chief minister, had even highlighted the problem faced by the people in the area because of the poor road condition in the recent sittings of the Assembly. However, the government is yet to wake up to the problem.
The action committee has now announced that it would close the road for good from November 11 if it was not repaired by November 10.
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| Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute in Guwahati. Picture by Eastern Projections |
The Assam government has decided to tie up with leading studios in Mumbai to send students from Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute to undergo training before they complete their courses.
The secretary of cultural affairs department, Swapnanil Barua, said
for technical expertise the department would tie up with studios in Chennai.
He said such exposure would really help students of JCFTI boost their confidence to do well in Bollywood.
“There is no dearth of talent in Assam. But they lack confidence and exposure. We are in touch with FTI Pune and trying to tie up for more exposure of our students,” he said.
JCFTI has already produced talents like Amrit Pritam who worked for the Oscar-winning film
Slumdog Millionaire as an associate recordist for its Hindi-version, Slumdog Crorepati.
He also designed the sound of Aamir Khan’s blockbuster Ghajini.
Another alumni of JCFTI, Debojit Sangmai, has worked in hits like Black, Khakee, Lagaan and Rang De Basanti as sound recordist.
